The present invention relates generally to a merchandising display device for displaying beverage bottles and dispensing the bottles one at a time, and, more particularly, to a device for orienting the bottles so that bottle labels face forward.
Display racks are used to hold merchandise awaiting purchase by a consumer. Some items, such as beverages, are best when consumed chilled, and are consequently housed in a refrigerator unit. Display racks are used in the refrigerator to hold beverage containers upright for easy viewing and to dispense them one at a time. Beverages are removed one at a time from the front of the rack and the remaining inventory is urged to the front of the rack for easy removal.
Presentation of the beverage is very important; so, a viewing area at the front of the rack allows easy viewing of the label area of the beverage container. Unfortunately, in many instances where beverages are displayed in racks, especially where the beverage containers are suspended by their necks, the beverage containers are not always perfectly aligned with the labels facing forward for easy viewing because of the time required to align them and because rack stockers are generally not that attentive. In addition, even when initially perfectly aligned, they are subject to disturbance as consumers remove containers from the display. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a display system that aligns the beverage label so that container labels face forward and prevents disturbance as containers are removed.
The prevent invention is directed to overcoming one or more of th problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the invention, a merchandising system for displaying and orienting beverage bottles comprises a plurality of beverage bottles each having a body with a product identification panel, a shoulder atop the body, a neck, a protruding flange about the neck, and a head atop the neck. A cap is attached to the head. The cap has a lower portion engaging the head and an upper portion with a protrusion extending above the head. The protrusion has side faces and a front face with the front face aligned vertically with the product identification panel. A display rack has at least one channel member. There are means on the channel member for receiving the plurality of beverage bottles, holding he plurality of beverage bottles by the protruding flange and dispensing the plurality of beverage bottles one at a time. The means includes a longitudinally extending slot in the channel and first and second keyway along the slot. The first keyway has a larger lateral dimension than the slot so that a neck flange can be inserted and removed through the keyway but cannot move laterally through the slot. The second keyway is adapted to receive the side faces of the protrusion of the cap so that the front face of the protrusion and the product identification panel face forward in the channel.
The present invention is a display rack and bottle with one defining a keyway and the other defining a key. When the key is in the keyway, the bottle label faces forward. Removing a bottle does not alter the relationship between the key and keyway ensuring that the bottle labels always face forward.
According to another aspect of the invention, a merchandising system for displaying and orienting beverage bottles comprises a plurality of beverage bottles each having a body with a product identification panel, a shoulder atop the body and a neck. A cap is attached to the head. The cap has a lower portion engaging the head and an upper portion defining a keyway and a front face. The front face is aligned vertically with the product identification panel. A display rack has at least one channel member and defines a key for engaging the keyway and holding the plurality of beverage bottles by the cap and dispensing the plurality of beverage bottles one at a time. The keyway is adapted to receive the key so that the product identification panel faces forward on the display rack.
In one adaptation, the key has a parallelepiped cross-section and the keyway has a parallelepiped opening. In another adaptation, the key has a circular cross-section and the keyway has a circular opening. When mated, the bottle is prevented from rotating so that the product label always faces forward.
These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.